Glorious Grace One-a-Day Thursday  1/25/18

A life worthy

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace… (Ephesians 1:6).

His glorious grace

I love the sound of those words, and not just because of the alliteration.

His grace–by its very nature I could never earn it, never deserve it, never demand it. His grace simply flows out of his love, out of his goodness, out of his very nature. His grace demonstrates to all who are willing to see what a mighty, merciful God he is.

His grace brings him glory.

Today promises to be a pretty stressful day for me. I plan to hold on to this passage. I am going to remind myself–probably multiple times–that I am his because of his glorious grace.

And I will praise him today.

Care to join me, Beloved?

Happy Thursday.

His Pleasure and Will One-a-Day Wednesday  1/24/18

A life worthy

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will  (Ephesians 1:5).

Such a huge little phrase

Guess what? God didn’t choose you grudgingly.

He didn’t say to himself, “Manoman, what a mess this kid’s made of things. I guess I’d better take them on board…sheesh, what a pain…fine, you’re saved. Now get out of my hair!”

He knew from the beginning that he wanted you. It gives him pleasure to call you his own. Thinking of you makes him smile.

Beloved, you make the Lord of the Universe smile.

Chew on that today.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Predestined One-a-Day Tuesday  1/23/18

A life worthy

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ…(Ephesians 1:4-5).

I tend to make things up as I go along.

I muddle along, reactive instead of proactive, trying and often failing to MacGyver my way through life.

God is not like Michael.

God had it all figured out before he pushed the “Start” button.

He had a plan. And that plan always included you.

Always

You probably think you’re pretty special.

You are.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved of God.

Chosen Monday 1/22/18

A life worthy

For he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4).

You are the chosen one.

Well, maybe not the chosen one, but certainly a chosen one.

Before he made the world, God had you in mind.  

Yeah, you.

He knew who you would be, how you would be.  He saw your “We are the Champions” moments, your happy times,

your foolish choices

your many sins

your epic, seemingly endless failures.

And he loved you.

And he chose you.

Wow.

Consider this: God is not bound by time, right?  Past, present, future—it’s all kind of now to him.  So, when he looks at you he sees you not only as you are, but as you will be.

Holy

Blameless

Complete

His

Now, if only you could learn to see yourself as he sees you, hmm?

Happy Monday, Beloved.

Blessing One-a-Day Friday  1/19/18

A life worthy

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Think you aren’t strong enough?

Think you aren’t smart enough?

Think you aren’t rich enough?

Think you aren’t…enough?

You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing.  Not some…not even most.

Every.

All.

The Totality

I can’t even imagine what all that means, but I’ll bet it means this much: everything you need to live the life God has called you to, He has already given you.

So what are you waiting for?

Go get ‘em, Beloved.

Happy Friday

Can’t Have One Without the Other One-a-Day Thursday  1/18/18

A life worthy

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:2).

Have you ever considered the relationship between the words graceand peace? Paul always puts them together. Look through his letters and you will see that, in almost every case, he pairs these two words.

Go ahead and look.  I’ll wait.

So why are these words so often together? And why in this order? Was Paul cutting and pasting his way through life? Perhaps, but I think unlikely. I think it more likely that these words, in this order, are the only way life works.  It is only through God’s grace that we can have peace.

Seriously—apart from God’s grace, why should you have peace? You are a hopeless, pathetic lump, destined for destruction.

Feeling encouraged yet?

Ahh, but you are not apart from God’s grace, are you, Beloved?  If you belong to Him, you have his grace, sufficient to all your needs. Your pathetic lumpiness has been forgiven, atoned for.  You, my friend, are complete, you are whole, you are loved.  You are His.

Embrace his grace, Beloved of the Father.  Know his peace today.

Happy Thursday

Be Strong One-a-Day Wednesday  1/17/18

A life worthy

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord  (Psalm 27:14).

Maybe today

Might be tomorrow

A week from Tuesday, perhaps

I can’t tell you when he will come to break what needs breaking and heal what needs healing and rescue his Beloved.

I can only tell you that he will.

So, hold on tight

to him.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved

Before Someday One-a-Day Tuesday  1/16/18

A life worthy

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Psalm 27:13).

Someday, it will all be perfect.

Someday, our Lord will return for us, and creation will be made right.

But

He is at work today, too.

Here

Now

Keep your eyes open, Beloved. See him at work in your Tuesday.

You don’t want to miss out.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

Brotherhood Monday 1/15/18

A life worthy

How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore (Psalm 133).

When I was little, my mom used to sing to me at bedtime. One of my favorites went like this:

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight 

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

In today’s climate, some will consider that song wildly inappropriate. “Red children? Yellow? How racist!” Others will ask, “What about brown children? Why are they left out?” None of those questions ever came into my little-kid brain.  All I heard was that Jesus loved us all; all children were precious to him.

Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. The best way to do that? Dwell together in unity, brothers and sisters of the One who loves us all.

The oil is entirely optional.

Happy Monday, Beloved

Enemy One-a-Day Friday  1/12/18

A life worthy

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence (Psalm 27:12).

You have an enemy.

As it happens, he is The Enemy.

Your enemy wants you to fail,

to fall.

He lies about you

and to you.

He wants to separate you from the One who loves you.

But guess what?

He won’t.

He can’t.

Because your life, your soul, your self, is safe in the hands of Almighty God

and

He isn’t giving you up.

Not now

Not ever

You can bank on that, Beloved.

Happy Friday